Volleyball Takes Down No. 1 Nebraska-Kearney

Box Score || Season Stats

KEARNEY, Neb. - - The Truman volleyball team earned one of the biggest wins in its storied program history on Friday night, knocking off the nation's No. 1 team – Nebraska-Kearney – in four sets on the road.

The Bulldogs (17-4, 6-2 MIAA), winners of eight straight, defeated a No. 1 team for the first time since the 2004 national semifinals – also UNK – and took down the nation's top squad for the third time since 2000 in the 3-1 win. Truman lost the first set 25-17 but rebounded to grind out back-to-back 25-23 set wins in the second and third frames before coming from behind and staving off three set points to close out the fourth set 28-26.

Truman hit .212 for the match, putting four players in double-figures offensively, while the Bulldog defense held the Lopers (18-2, 5-1 MIAA) to a .184 mark. Six Bulldogs finished with double-figure digs, as the two squads combined for 230 digs on the night.

UNK jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first set, and Truman was never able to catch them, falling behind by as many as nine before losing the set 25-17. However, the Bulldogs flipped the script in the second set, taking an early 9-2 lead of their own and forcing a Loper timeout. UNK would eventually fight back and take an 18-17 lead before the teams battled to a 22-22 tie. From there, though, Ali Patterson (Lee's Summit, Mo., Lee's Summit) put down a kill and UNK gave the 'Dogs a pair of points before Megan Sharpe (Edwardsville, Ill., Edwardsville) capped the set with a kill and a 25-23 win.

Truman took the first point of the third set and, despite UNK tying the score on three different occasions, never gave up the lead, building four-point leads before pushing the margin to 22-15. However, the Lopers rallied again, tying the score at 23-23, but a UNK service error preceded a double block for Allie Brak (The Colony, Texas, The Colony) and Emily Briseno (Lee's Summit, Mo., Lee's Summit West) to give the 'Dogs another two-point set win.

Then in the fourth, the teams experienced 14 ties and five different lead changes, battling to a 19-19 score before trading points all the way to 26-all. Despite the Lopers getting three set point opportunities to force a fifth, Sharpe and Brak closed it out with back-to-back kills and handed the top-ranked Lopers their second straight loss following a road defeat on Wednesday.

Brak, the reigning AVCA Div. II national player of the week, led all players with 18 kills and added 15 digs, while Patterson added 14 kills and no errors in 41 swings at the other OH position. Sharpe and freshman Abby Heise (Jacksonville, Ill., Springfield Lutheran) posted 13 kills each, with Briseno adding seven of her own. Sophomore setter Meghan Zimmerman (Papillion, Neb., Gross Catholic) set a new career-high with 56 assists and ranked second on the squad with 17 digs, behind sophomore libero Abby Moser's 23. Freshman Sidney King (15) and senior Allyson Stellmach (14) joined Moser (Wildwood, Mo., Lafayette), Zimmerman, Brak and Patterson (11) in the double-figure dig count.

Truman out-blocked UNK 11-8, as Sharpe led all players with six block assists. The Bulldogs dealt just three aces but did not give the Lopers many free points of their own by serving just four errors.

The match marked just fourth time since 2000 that Bulldogs faced a No. 1 team; however, it was just the first time it occurred in the regular season after Truman faced three No. 1 teams in the NCAA tournament. Truman lost to UNK in the 2005 national quarterfinals (at UNK), defeated the Lopers in the 2004 semifinals (neutral site), and downed West Texas A&M in a true road match in the 2002 quarterfinals.

The win also handed UNK just its 15^th home loss since 1999 and first regular season home conference loss since the 2010 season. Ellie Pesavento led Kearney with 14 kills, while libero Liz McGown dug 35 Truman attacks, as the Lopers out-dug Truman by six.

A short turnaround awaits the 'Dogs, as Truman travels to Fort Hays State for a 3pm match on Saturday (Oct. 13) afternoon.

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